Tomeo Tabata

Tomeo Tabata (16 August 1899-14 May 1945) was a colonel of the Imperial Japanese Army who served in the Sino-Japanese War and World War II. He was killed in action in the Battle of Okinawa.

Biography
Tomeo Tabata was born on 16 August 1899 on the island of Okinawa, part of Japan, and became an officer in the Imperial Japanese Army during their intervention in Siberia in the 1920s. He also served in the general staff of General Shunroku Hata during the Second Sino-Japanese War in 1937-1943, fighting Chinese forces during World War II as well. In 1943 he was sent to Okinawa to take command of Okinawan conscripts defending Wana Ridge from the United States and he organized strong resistance to US forces attacking the ridge in May 1945. Tabata was killed in action in his large bunker by American forces on 14 May 1945 alongside several Japanese soldiers.